How Catalina López-Ospina Of Project Bread Is Helping To Address The Growing Challenge Of Food Insecurity
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Take the time to build a strong team. It is necessary to have a team of experts who can be trusted, give you advice and push you to explore new and creative ideas, and are equally committed to the principles of the work. Rushing the hiring process can lead to the wrong decisions, which will have repercussions later on in the execution of the work and the team’s dynamics.
In many parts of the United States, there is a crisis of people having limited reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. As prices rise, this problem will likely become more acute. How can this problem be solved? Who are the leaders helping to address this crisis?
In this interview series, we are talking to leaders who are helping to address the increasing problem of food insecurity who can share the initiatives they are leading to address and solve this problem.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Catalina Lopez-Ospina.
Catalina López-Ospina was born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, and she moved to Boston in 2007 to reunite with her mother, from whom she was separated for almost 17 years, and to continue her higher education. During the 14 years that Catalina has lived in Boston, she has worked in many different jobs in order to survive in this country, and all of these experiences forged her sympathy for the immigrant population and marginalized communities.
Catalina discovered her passion for public service, fighting social inequalities, and a desire to connect struggling people to opportunities that lead to happiness and well-being, and food insecurity is the cause that has been at the center of her struggle for the past 10 years.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
In 2011, I began working at the Boston Public Health Commission’s Serving Ourselves Farm, a job training program for homeless people on Long Island, Boston. Working at Serving Ourselves, I discovered my passion for public service, and a desire to connect struggling people to opportunities that lead to happiness and well-being. I also began my fight against social inequalities, and food insecurity is the cause that has been at the center of her struggle for the past 10 years.
I worked at the Office of Homeless Services until 2016, when I became part of the Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives as Program Director. That same year I was named Interim Director of the Office. I re-named the office to Food Access, a name that reflected the new vision and mission, and leveraged funding to a major strategic planning initiative for community and partner involvement. I launched the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) in Boston, launched the Boston Food Access Council, and secured private funding to pilot two of the city’s major food access programs, one in close collaboration with Project Bread, “Boston Summer Eats.”
During my tenure there, I brought together more than 100 organizations with expertise in different fields to work together collaboratively to provide direct services to diverse low-income communities in Boston.
It was all of these relationships that made it possible for the City of Boston to respond so quickly and effectively to the food emergency that Boston has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic.
I joined Project Bread as the first Vice President of Engagement and am charged with reinforcing the mission of bringing people with lived experience to the decision-making table, to help Project Bread shape its program and policy agenda in a genuine, transparent, and compassionate process.
I live in Hyde Park, Mass. with my husband, three old cats, and a dog.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When the Long Island Bridge in the Boston Harbor closed in 2014, I was managing the Serving Ourself Farm. At that time, we had 40 chickens and over 800 pounds of vegetables. With help from a class of Boston fire academy cadets, we caught all the chickens and moved all the food off the island, on foot!
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
When I was appointed Director of the Office of Food Access at City Hall, I moved into a leadership role informed by years of experience working directly with people facing difficulties. In that position, I was closer to the decision-making circle in the city. I was able to bring all my knowledge and experience from my work in human services to really make food insecurity issues a priority for the Walsh administration
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
It is difficult to point at just one person. I owe my success to my mother and my siblings. Each of them supported me at different points of transition in my professional and personal life. I also owe my success to my husband. He has been the one who has pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, to think big, and he has always believed in the causes I am passionate about.
So, thanks to my village, I have achieved the success I have had so far.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Transparency: I always try to make the expectations of our work clear at the outset so that it is easier for the team to understand our goals, make the most of individual strengths, and foster collaboration across the group. Leading the City of Boston’s Office of Food Justice (formerly known as the Office of Food Access) was very important for me to develop an agenda that will guide our work over the next three years. As the new Vice President of Engagement at Project Bread, I am working on setting goals, expectations, and outcomes as I build my team so that when we have a team, we are clear on the roles that everyone will play in making it happen.
Accountability: As a leader, I am committed to our work and my team. I have to be accountable for my team and individual results. My team must be aware of my commitment to them, to their professional growth, and the achievement of the objectives set. As a leader, my employees have seen my commitment, focus, and work ethic that always puts individual and collective success in front of my work
Vulnerability: As a leader, it is crucial to be flexible and resourceful in responding to unexpected changes in plans and circumstances. This builds trust among team members and allows room to make mistakes and learn from them. During the response to the COVID-19 food emergency in the city of Boston, our plans changed every day. Still, I was able to see the opportunities that arose each day to address the challenges we were experiencing.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I always tell myself, “keep going.” Thanks to this, I have overcome difficulties that I have encountered on my journey. I recognize the importance of learning from my mistakes, but I refuse to dwell on them.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you describe to our readers how your work is helping to address the challenge of food insecurity?
In many situations, solutions to problems rooted in systems of oppression and racism are created by people far removed from the situation. My job as Vice President of Engagement at Project Bread is to bring people who have experienced food insecurity to the table where solutions that address the root of the problems are decided. I am very proud to be part of Project Bread’s bold decision to bring the voices of lived experience to advise us and help us implement solutions in a way that best suits their communities.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
It makes me very proud to be able to sympathize with the difficulties that people are experiencing and to share my struggles as well. This makes it possible for me to create a solid relationship built on trust, transparency, and honesty. While working with BPHC in the Homeless Bureau, I connected very closely with many of the clients I worked with. Whenever I encounter some of them around Boston, we are able to reconnect, share the circumstances they are going through, be a sounding board for their current struggles, help them when they ask for it, and share our humanity. These encounters make me very proud of my work.
In your opinion, what should other business and civic leaders do to further address these problems? Can you please share a few things that can be done to further address the problem of food insecurity?
In the world of anti-hunger and food security, Project Bread, with the new engagement department is leading the way in how we should tackle the problem of hunger and food security. Solutions to any social problem have to come from the bottom up. I encourage other leaders in this field to look at their work through the eyes of equity and reflect on whether their work is meeting the needs of people in a dignified and empowering way. In our work as anti-hunger organizations, we have to put the people at the center of our planning, execution, and decision-making.
Are there other leaders or organizations who have done good work to address the challenge of food scarcity? Can you tell us what they have done? What specifically impresses you about their work? Perhaps we can reach out to them to include them in this series.
Many grassroots, mutual aid, and faith-based organizations are close to the people struggling and working constantly with very few resources to provide services to the community they serve.
If you had the power to influence legislation, are there laws that you would like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
Expand eligibility and simplify requirements for safety net programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As it is now, there are many barriers for people to apply, and thousands of people who need this support to get out of poverty and be successful in life are excluded.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Learn to say no. It is crucial to know our limits and our team’s. At times new ideas, projects, and meetings came into my office at City Hall, and I always wanted to be able to execute them. Increasing your team’s workload and your own can be exhausting and cause everyone to lose focus on the work goals.
Take the time to build a strong team. It is necessary to have a team of experts who can be trusted, give you advice and push you to explore new and creative ideas, and are equally committed to the principles of the work. Rushing the hiring process can lead to the wrong decisions, which will have repercussions later on in the execution of the work and the team’s dynamics.
Enjoy the process. Often, we are very focused on the outcome of our work, and we overlook all the experiences and knowledge gained during the process. Part of the process is building strong, trusting relationships with our colleagues, the people in the communities we work with, and our partners. All of this takes time, and it is very important to enjoy this journey.
You cannot do everything at the same time. It is crucial to visualize the process that will lead to success and learn to prioritize. As I build the new engagement department at Project Bread, many things catch my attention to participate in or execute. But as tempting as it sounds to “get things done,” I am taking my time to define my priorities as a leader and the priorities for the department.
It’s okay to make mistakes. It is expected that individuals in leadership positions do not make mistakes, which generates a lot of stress. Part of our growth process as professionals and leaders is to recognize our failures and take them as learning opportunities for the future.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
We are currently doing the work that could amplify the current social justice, anti-racism and equality movement.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Rosalinda Guillen, Farmworker.
She advocates for the rights of migrant workers, especially migrant farm workers. She is visionary in creating strategies to dismantle patriarchy and empower women leaders. She empowers marginalized communities to work together to fight for their rights and seek solutions that will lead them to maximize their potential to thrive and lead healthy lives.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Linkedin is where I am personally most active, but you can follow my work at @projectbread on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn as well.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.
How Catalina López-Ospina Of Project Bread Is Helping To Address The Growing Challenge Of Food… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.